Transforming the Chaotic Wine Theory

When this blog was first started, its purpose was to motivate me as I trained for my first marathon.  I am proud to write, that I have successfully completed that first marathon.  During the six months of training, I learned a lot about myself and developed a lot of good habits. I really enjoy the running and active lifestyle.  Moving forward, I am going to start to use this blog to not only chronicle my training for my next marathon, but for all aspects of a healthy life, life in the vineyard as a winemaker, and general wine knowledge. I hope you enjoy the new direction.

First Marathon!

Sorry for the slow post, but what a week I had.  On June 23rd, I went golfing for the very first time.  My team finished 4th, little did I know, but for my first adventure on the links, I played one of the toughest courses in the state! After the tournament, I headed off to Seattle for my very first marathon.  One has got to love a weekend of firsts.

Saturday morning, I got out of bed, did not really sleep, was way to excited/nervous to run.  I was one of the first to the starting line at 4:30 am.  I think this ended up being a really good thing, because it allowed me to find a nice place to stretch out, eat some breakfast, use the bathroom without a long line, and enjoy people watching.  At the start, I found my corral and waited to begin my 26.2 mile journey.

The first 12 miles of the race went almost perfect! I held back, walked through every water station to prevent going out to fast and was hitting my goal pace of around 10:20 per mile.  I have found in training, that just above a 10 minute pace, I can easily talk and maintain that pace for mile after mile without feeling tired or strained at the end.  I figured, keep that pace up and I will definitely have something left in the tank for the last 6.2 miles.  My only mistake in the first part of the race...I was so worried about hydration, I drank two cups of water through every aid station.  During the marathon, it was overcast and 60 degrees.  My body did not need all that water, especially at the start.  By mile 7, I had to hit the outhouse.  With it being so early in the race, it took over 4 minutes waiting in line! But after some relief, I was back cruising.

When I got to the floating bridge, just past mile 9, I started to pass people.  Getting concerned, I checked my pacing watch and found I was holding steady.  My strategy of not getting to excited was paying off.  Coming off the floating bridge, around mile 12, things went wrong! My right side IT band flared up around my knee.  By mile 13, I could not run.  The strange thing about my IT band flare up is that I could not run a single step to save my life.  Every step jogging or running felt like a hot iron being poked into my knee, but as soon as I stopped and started walking, the pain would disappear.

At this point in the race, the half marathon and full marathon had rejoined, separated by a concrete barrier.  As we neared the location where the two races would split again, I noticed people jumping from the full side over to the half side.  The temptation was there! Should I jump over and complete a 15 mile day or go for it and hope my knee held up.  Now, when I write that I could walk, I mean, I could WALK without pain.  Butt wiggling, arms pumping, power walking.  So, why not go for it and power walk the rest of this bad boy!

So I went for it and did it! I completed the marathon in just over 5 hours, 20 minutes.  What a tale of two halves! I finished the first twelve in just over 2 hours, and then power walked the back half (averaging a 14 minute per mile walking pace) in around three hours and twenty minutes.  The only down side to the race?  Do you know how boring in can be to walk 14 miles!? Especially when your cardio system feels like it is in first gear and begging to put the peddle to the metal and kick it into a higher gear.  Right now I am looking for my next full marathon to run.  I feel like I left a lot of time on the table.  My wife and I have started saving with eyes on the 2012 Disney World Marathon, we'll make that call in September.  I cannot wait for my next race. And my next round of golf!

In many ways, I find that by breaking down in my first race and yet still finishing has made me even more of a marathon fanatic.  I know that no matter what happens, when I line up to run, I can finish 26.2 miles.  Now I want to know what happens when I run a good race.

Not gone, just focused on vineyard and training

I was just sitting down at the computer, catching up on stuff, trying not to focus on the fact that I am not supposed to run!#$%! One spends so much time adding up the milage, getting into the rhythm of jogging all the time, only to taper back the week of the race. I am going to go for the full distance.  Although I feel like I missed out on a lot of training, I feel that I am between being ready for a 1/2 and a full. So might as well go for the full monty.  Three weeks ago I was able to do my longest run, just short of 20 miles.  It was 78 degrees, and I ran out of water and snacks at mile 12.  In the heat (this was the first really warm day of the year, and it was humid out) and without water, I went down to a power walking pace for the last few miles, and still felt good at the end.  I figured from that day, if I could complete a very hilly course, without proper nutrition at almost 3,000 feet elevation, I could finish 26.2 at sea level with proper food and water. And so for the month of June, my life has been nothing but vineyard and training for this Saturday.

Of course, after my really long run, I talked with my friend Shawn. I told him about my adventure and my choice of course.  The course was a hilly 9+ mile trek out into the middle of no-where and back (during the entire 4 hour ordeal, I only saw one car, and cell phone reception is not really consistent). After my story, Shawn asked why I did not choose a shorter route, and just run multiple laps, that way, I could stay properly hydrated and if something went wrong, I was close to civilization and help. Logic stinks!!!

Doubts and Fears

Last night I was up, unable to sleep, thinking about the upcoming marathon.  In less than four weeks I am supposed to participate in the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon, this coming weekend, I am supposed to run 20 miles as part of my training.  I feel completely unprepared for both.  This past weekend, I went out for a long run and almost died at 13 miles.  The shoes I have bought and started to break in during my short runs have caused me to develop foot pain (on the top of my foot!).  My mind is filling with doubt!  I have never raced a full marathon (or even a 1/2 marathon).  Would it be better to do the Seattle 1/2 and target a race in the early fall before harvest to run the full?  The Portland Marathon would be perfect for me, it would give me more time to train.  Is the doubt I am having more pre-race jitters or real concern about how much training I have missed? For the next few days, I am going to be resting to let my foot heal.  At 1:30 in the morning, I went online and found a pair of my favorite shoes of all time (the Mizuno Wave Alchemy) and ordered them to be here by the weekend.  This Sunday, I am going to go for a 20 mile run.  I looked at the course details for the marathon I am training for, there will be a water station every 1.5 miles.  On my training run, every 1.5 miles I am going to slow and walk for a minute, drink water and eat some energy gel, trying to simulate a race strategy to complete the full marathon.  For my first marathon, I want to finish strong and not be dead for the next week.  I want running marathons to be a long term hobby, not a once in a life bucket list item.

Where does all the time go?

My marathon is now just over one month away, and I am starting to doubt I will be fully ready.  The last few weeks have been, to put it simply, crappy on the training front.  Work and life seem to creep in and make getting the required training in hard.  It is easy to still find the time for my shorter runs (anything under 6 miles) but it is hard finding the time for the longer training runs and the really long run every week.  Any thoughts of a great first time in my first marathon are gone, now I am buckling down with the simple goal of completing and not dying!

You'll take this treadmill and like it!

As most of you do not know, last week my wife graduated from college. To celebrate, we took off for a week and headed to Las Vegas.  But what about your marathon training!?  Although I did not get in all the miles I was hoping for, I did accomplish one goal, I learned to run on a treadmill!  For those of you who do not know, I HATE treadmills!  Put a wire mesh cage around one and you end up with a human hamster wheel.  Squeak, Squeak, Squeak!  That thought, and the thought of me shooting off the back in front of all the other people working out at the gym was enough for me to keep my distance.

If I am going to keep on running, past the marathon and truly make this a lifestyle, I realized that I needed to embrace the treadmill...or move to an area where there is perfect/decent running weather year round.  Since I cannot take the vineyard with me, I am going to have to learn to run indoors when it is a blizzard outside.  So during my vacation, while my wife slept, I slinked off to the fitness center at our hotel and practiced running on their treadmills. (yes, I know, I could have gone out and run on the strip, especially in the morning, with all the other runners.  With my luck though, I would have biffed it in front of 75 camera toting Japenese tourist.  Been uploaded onto YouTube, and become an instant meme over in Japan. How does one say, "I've got two left feet" in Japanese to their version of Matt Lauer?) The end result, I can now easily run on a treadmill for an hour.  To celebrate this great achievement, I got my shoes laced up and am of to run through good ol' mother nature!

Off I go, into the wild blue yonder

Yesterday, I went for my longest training run yet, 13 miles!  It was kind of a weird experience to leave my house, knowing that I would be gone for the next couple of hours, doing nothing but running.  My planned jogging route was one that would take me all over the South Hill of Spokane, from east to west and then back.  Loaded up with my camel back on and music player fully juiced, I set out on my journey.  It was amazing how many people I knew and recognized on my trip!  I passed Matt, the wine steward at the Rocket Bakery (thanks for the wave!), Mike Conway, a fellow winemaker, and at one point, my wife who had gotten off from work early!
During my journey, I had many a thought. Some of the more important ones were in regards to what music I put on my mp3 player in the future. Some songs that one would think would be great for running are not while other lessor songs actually help pull you through the tough miles. I also thought a lot about food.  Pre, during and post eating is definitely something I am working on figuring out. So far my list of bad items to eat before running include, nachos, a piece of beef jerky and nothing else, and forgetting to eat all together.  During my long runs, I have learned that 12 oz of water will not get you through 11 miles, GU is good, and that energy drinks need to be watered way down.  Everything seems to taste 100% more sweet when dying of thirst then when resting. So that energy drink at mile 7 ends up tasting like a mouth full of sugar and is not refreshing in any way.  For post race, nothing beats Chocolate milk, Whey protein chocolate milk, or Muscle Chocolate milk.  Jalapeno corndog...not to good.